Collapsible crate.



G. A. MASTER & 0. T. WOLNITZEK.

OOLLAPSIBLE CRATE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.4, 1914.

Patented Mar. 23, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

THE NORRIS PETERS 60., FHOTO*LITHOH WASHINGTON G. A. MASTER & 0. T. WOLNITZEK. OOLLAPSIBLE CRATE. APPLICATION FILED MAR.4,1914. Ll'ifififlfifi I Patented Mar.23,1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mme as C. Q. WW wi'lmeoom U 2/ THE NORRIS PETERS ca, PHOTO-LITHO WASHINGTON, n C

i. the was a FTW CHESTER A. MASTER AND OSCAR T. W'OLNI'IZEK, 0F BELLVILLE, TEXAS.

COLLAPSIBLE CRATE.

Specification of Letters .Patent.

Patented Mar. 23, 11915..

Application filed March 4, 1914. Serial No. 822,349.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, Cnnsrnn A. MASTER and OSCAR T. WOLNITZEK, citizens of the United States, residing at Bellville, in the county of Austin and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improveposition.

The essential novelty of this invention lies in the provision of such a structure as hereinbefore mentioned consisting of a bottom member, and foldable side and top members, in combination with a locking element which is capable of interlocking with the bottom member to hold the crate structure in collapsed condition and also designed to interlock the foldable members to hold the crate in open operative position.

Not only does the locking element aforesaid possess the foregoing adaptability but performs an additional locking function in that it cooperates with a door or cover member for permitting access to the crate when in open position to hold said door in normal closed position both in the collapsed or extended positions of the crate.

A still further object of our invention is to provide a locking element in the form of a lever whereby to draw the foldable members of the crate into cooperation for causing the members to assume rigid and interlocking connection, a most desirable feature in structures of this character.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained by the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter specifically described and claimed.

Reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of our device in open operative position. Fig. 2 is alongitudinal sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a top plan view; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the device in folded or collapsed position.

Throughout the following detail description, and on the several figures of the drawings, similar parts are referred to by like reference characters.

It is to be understood that a device constructed in accordance with our invention may be of any suitable size and conformation, and preferably consists of rigid material suitably formed with ventilating openings, or if desired, of rigid corrugated metallic material to afford the necessary strength for devices of this character in order to withstand the rough handling to which they are subjected.

The crate consists essentially of a bottom 1 of any desired material such as Wood to which is secured on all sides the metallic flanges 2 forming as will be apparent at shallow receptacle, which as will be pointed out more clearly hereinafter, is adapted to receive the other foldable elements of the crate when the structure is in its folded inoperative condition.

Connected adjacent to the opposite longitudinal sides of this receptacle upon the pivot rods 3 are the side members 4 and 5 each having connected or hinged to its upper free edge the top sections 6 and 7 respectively. Each of the side members 4 and 5 have their vertical ends bent inwardly to form abutment flanges 4: and 5.

Secured adjacent the ends of the shallow receptacle before mentioned on pivot rods 8 are end members 9 and 10, and each of these end members is bent along its upper edge back upon itself and outwardly at angles to the end to form horizontal supporting flanges 9 and 10 as will be noted by reference to Fig. 2. The end members 9 and 10 when the crate is in its open extended position abut against the flanges 4 and 5 which limit the outward movement of said members and the top sections 6 and 7 lie upon the supporting flanges 9 and 10' of the end members 9 and 10 respectively so that a rigid structure is provided when the foldable members are disposed in their cooperating open position. The end members interlock with the side and top sections in the manner just described.

Each of the foldable members constituting the end, side and top elements of the crate is formed with a plurality of openings 11 for ventilating purposes, said openings in the end members being omitted in the drawings, and in addition to these openings a slide member or door 12 is provided to per: unit access to the interior of the crate when the same is in extended position, the top sec tion 7 having its material bent outwardly to form the guide flanges 13 interlocking with the downwardly bent flanges 12 of the door 12. Pivotally mounted at 14 adjacent the door 12 and the edge of the topsection 6, is a locking element in the form of a lever 14 having an arm or link 14 pivoted thereon at 15. The superposed link 14 of the lever 14 has its free extremity bent into a hook 17, shown most clearly in Fig. 2, and this hook is'adapted to engage in an opening 18 adjacent the free edge of the top section 7 and formed so as to be in alinement with the pivots 14 and 15. When the crate is opened into its extended position with the top sections disposed horizontally in proper position upon the end members, the hook 17 of the link 14 is engaged in the opening 18 and movement of the lever 14 from the dotted line position shownin Fig. 3 so as to bring the pivotsl4 and 15 in alinement with the opening will cause the top sections to be moved toward each other and necessarily drawing therewith the side members 4 and 5 tightly against the end members 9 and 10. The crate is thus made rigid and ready for use and in this extended position the lever 14 is flexed slightly upwardly so as to enable the insertion of the eye 19 carried by the door 12 into a slot 20 formed in the extremity of said lever. The lever, therefore, serves not only to hold the structure in the rigid extended position just described but also interlocks with the door to hold the same in closed position and any desirable locking member or seal may be passed through the eye 19 to prevent unauthorized access into or collapsing of the device. When it is desired to obtain access to the interior of the crate the lever 14 is raised to disengage the same from the eye of the door 12 which may then be slid outwardly into it pe PQ i I- When it is desired to collapse the crate the lever 14 is disengaged from the door 12 and after movement'of said lever laterally its eooperating link 14 is disengaged from the top section 7. By slightly raising the top sections the interlocking cooperation of the foldable elements is broken and the end members 9 and 10 fold downwardly upon the bottom while the side member 5 with its cooperati ng top section 7 is dropped downwardly upon the end members and finally the side member with its cooperating top section 6 moved into a superposed position with respect to the last mentioned side and top section. The foldable elements as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings are thus disposed within the receptacle formed by the bottom member and the flanges 2 into a very compact form and this condition is maintained by the insertion of the hook 17 of the link 14 into a slot or opening 21 of one of the flanges 2. Movement of the lever 14 in a position with the pivots of the lever in alinement with opening 21 will interlock the foldable sections in the receptacle aforesaid and prevent the accidental displacement of these parts which may be further held in their interlocked position by the use of a seal or other member, not shown, that may be passed through the eye 19 of the door 12 with which eye the lever 14 normally cooperates both in the collapsed and extended positions of the crate structure.

It is apparent that when these crate structures are of such size as to require supplemental supports intermediate the end members thereof, it is within the purview of our invention to provide one or more partitions which may be pivotally mounted for dispo sition transversely of the crate and collapsible also in the same manner as is incident to the employment of the end members hereinbefore described. Obviously, also the crate may be adapted to various uses other than those hereinbefore mentioned, among which is that as an egg crate in which event the sides of the structure are constructed without openings 11.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new is:

1. A collapsible crate comprising a bottom, side and top members connected thereto and movable into open extended position, a door for permitting access to said crate when in the open position, and common means for holding the crate in the open position and locking the door.

2. A collapsible crate comprising a bottom, side and top members connected thereto and movable into open extended position, a door for permitting access to said crate when in the open position, a locking member in one position adapted to interlock the top members to hold the side and top members interlocked and the crate extended, in a second position interlocking the top and bottom members, maintaining the crate in collapsed position, said locking member also locking the door in the first mentioned position.

3. In a collapsible crate, the combination with a bottom member, side members and top sections, of a door mounted on one of said top sections for permitting access into the crate when in unfolded operative position, a locking lever carried by a top section adjacent the door aforesaid and comprising a link connected to said section, said link bememos ing engageable with the bottom member for In testimony whereof we aflix our signalocking the crate in folded position, and entures in presence of two witnesses.

gageable with the other of said top sections CHESTER A. MASTER.

to hold the crate in unfolded extended posi- OSCAR T. WOLNITZEK. tion, the link being engageable with the Witnesses:

door in either of the positions aforesaid to WM. SCHNEIDER,

maintain the closed position of said door. v WM. SCHNEIDER, J r.

Homes of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents, Washington, D. C. 

